BACKSTAGE THOM BROWNE FALL WINTER 2017/18 MENSWEAR COLLECTION

By Crash redaction

FOR FALL 2017 COLLECTION, THOM BROWNE OFFERED A MEDITATION ON GREY: THE ULTIMATE AND TIMELESS COLOR

From one line to the next, Thom Browne continues to reinvent traditional tailoring. Presented during Paris Men’s Fashion Week, the brand’s Fall 2017 collection offered a meditation on grey: the ultimate and timeless color employed in every designer’s collections. Altered only by a stray white shirt, this symphony in unison showcases every shade and style of grey.

Ever the conceptualist, Thom Browne frequently boasts of his ability to create in total freedom, with only a small handful of references in mind. Nevertheless, his Fall 2017 collection borrows details from Picasso paintings. Cubist, disproportionate, and oversized, each aspect of the male wardrobe appears deconstructed and disjointed. In these hands, men’s suiting is anything but boring, as it becomes like a kind of puzzle with different pieces cut and pasted to form a multilayered whole.

Until tonight, Thom Browne has had a reputation as a brand reserved for eccentrics. But the brand’s Fall 2017 collection opens up a new way of conceiving the garment: as insubordinate to its original design or even to anatomy, with extra-long sleeves that dangle from the torso.

Some pieces appeared much more wearable: three-piece suits in gray wool, with sleeves extending all the way to the ankle to lengthen the silhouette – an effect reinforced by extra-tall black shoes. After the show, Browne said “It’s a celebration of quality clothing and tailoring.” We couldn’t agree more, as we left the show with the impression of having seen something transcendently new.